Should we rent a double stroller at WDW parks?

[Drusilla]

On our last trip our girls were 3 & 5, we rented a double stroller (pushchair) at WDW. It was so nice to rent it for the week, pick it up in the parks, drop it off as we left, let them rest/nap in it, not have to deal with strollers on the buses, etc.

However, I learned that the price has doubled to rent a double stroller for the week. Plus our girls are now 5 and 8. However, my 8 year old is not the size of a normal 8 year old - she is quite petite/small for her age. She just made it into size 6 pants for this upcoming school year. 5 year old is normal size for her age.

Do we really need a stroller?

I'm afraid that they will tire out faster if they don't rest their feet. I'm afraid my 5 year old will insist on riding on her dad's shoulders thus tiring him out. I had my knee replaced 2 years ago so pushing it does help me take some of the weight off my knee.

On the other hand, it would be nice to not have to park it and find it after every attraction, etc. And at double the price and a 10 day trip this time, that's an awful lot of money to spend on renting a stroller...

I'm very up in the air as to rent one this year or not.

 

[Perditamarie]

I wouldn't, couldn't pay those rental prices!! For the cost of a rental, you could buy your own double for possibly a bit less and then sell it on Craigslist after your trip and make most of your money back.

You could also just bring a single stroller, and let the kids alternate turns....it would be easier to wrangle a single on the buses as well. Some other ideas are to start a family walking regime so everyone is used to walking or even consider renting a single/double from an Orlando rental company that will drop off/pick up at you resort. Happy planning!

 

[stephie1012]

i think if i was you i would at least bring a single stroller. Or you can rent one from Orlandostrollerrentals...much cheaper then renting in the parks and the strollers are awesome!

 

[kehlyrsmom]

I have always rented a stoller at Disney and I about fell over last year at the prices. The strollers for the week were only about $30 less then our rental mini-van for the week.

We are leaving this Saturday (9/5) and though my kids are 9 & 8 both are on the austism spectrum and tend to wear out quite easily especially in the heat. My 8 year old is very small for his age as well but his sister is the opposite almost as tall as my mom(ok mom is short) - I plan on renting 1 double this year for them to take turns in. I would rather spend the $$ and avoid the meltdowns and complaining and enjoy or trip.

We are not arriving untile 5:00 pm on Saturday so my plan is to do the MK but not rent a stroller that night just to test the waters - maybe they will surprise me.

 

[smcdaniel4688]

since we have a DS4 and a DD8, we have always rented a double stroller. but on out last trip in march 2009, i asked for a total for our length of stay and nearly had a stroke!!!! we are talking almost $200!!!! my darlin' DH said "no way" and so for the first time, our kids trekked it through every disney park. there were no meltdowns, we took lots of rests whenever needed, and we made it through unscathed. we did, however, relent on the second to last day and rented a stroller for EPCOT to do the world showcase because that is a very long day and lots of walking....i would suggest trying it without a stroller and see how everyone does. you can always go back and rent if you need to. I know that we enjoyed taking that extra money to the World of Disney and spoiling the kids a bit with some toys that they wouldnt have gotten otherwise.

 

[Drusilla]

Very good idea to try it without and see how it goes. We arrive on Thanksgiving Day around noon, by the time we check in at AKL and arrive at MK, I'm guessing it will be 3-4pm. Since MK is going to be crazy crowded that day and we will only be 1/2 day there, we probably wouldn't rent a stroller that day. So we'll see how it goes. Maybe they'll surprise me...

I really don't want to deal with a stroller rental from a source outside the parks b/c we don't want to take a stroller on the bus. The girls did fine last time walking from the stroller drop to the bus. I also don't want to deal with bringing our umbrella stroller from home and having to deal with that at the airport. We did that last trip and it was a pain. We ended up renting the WDW stroller after the second day after dealing with the umbrella strollers the first day on the bus. DH said no more so we rented a double at WDW.

I just wish WDW would drop it's prices on the rentals, then it would be a no brainer. Disneyland gives free stroller rental for Disney credit card holders, why can't they do that or give a discount at WDW??

 

[jgazda]

Not sure if you have heard of the company Owners Locker, but they are now renting strollers and they are much cheaper than Disney. www.magicstrollers.com. You would have to collapse it on the bus but the model they are renting does fold up pretty small for a double.

 

[Lilo'sMommy]

I've rented a stroller for our 10 day trip that starts next week. I rented a double stroller from Orlando Stroller Rentals for 110.00- mauch less that getting one from Disney. My kids are younger than yours, but they have the opposite issues with size- my 4 year old wears a size 7, so I had to find a stroller that can hold up to 110 pounds.
If you decide not to go that direction, I would bring a single umbrella stroller. That way they can take turns, it won't be too painful to get on and off the buses, and if they end up not using it very often it won't take up too much space in your hotel room.

 

[mrsbagel]

Not sure if you have heard of the company Owners Locker, but they are now renting strollers and they are much cheaper than Disney. www.magicstrollers.com. You would have to collapse it on the bus but the model they are renting does fold up pretty small for a double.

have you or anyone you know rented from this place????

 

[mrsbagel]

I've rented a stroller for our 10 day trip that starts next week. I rented a double stroller from Orlando Stroller Rentals for 110.00- mauch less that getting one from Disney. My kids are younger than yours, but they have the opposite issues with size- my 4 year old wears a size 7, so I had to find a stroller that can hold up to 110 pounds.
If you decide not to go that direction, I would bring a single umbrella stroller. That way they can take turns, it won't be too painful to get on and off the buses, and if they end up not using it very often it won't take up too much space in your hotel room.

how did the rental go?? any issues??? we are staying at csr w/my ds 8 dd 3 ds 9mth? i heard the strollers in the park are way too expensive and not a good idea for a 9 mth old?? all info. would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Lilo'sMommy]

We leave in a few days, so I will be sure to report back to you all and let you know how it went. I did get an e-mail from them just yesterday confirming my dates and which resort I was staying at. They told me that my stroller would be at the front desk no later than 4 pm, and that I need to have it back at the front desk by noon the day we are leaving. I've really enjoyed working with them so far. I had a couple of questions that I sent them in an e0-mail, and they responded to me within 24 hours. Great customer service, and 100.00 for 10 days of stroller rental? You can't get much better than that!!

 

[CLR4321]

I vote for renting from Orlando Stroller Rentals....check it out: http://www.orlandostrollerrentals.com/orlando-stroller-rentals-double-stroller.html
It's cheaper than renting every day from WDW plus you can take it back to your resort if needed. They deliver the stroller to bell services and you return it to bell services also, they are great!

 

[happymommy]

We used to always bring our old lightweight fullsize stroller for my kids to share when they were up to the age 6 and 8. They would take turns, and it really came in handy one day (actually two). My DD got a super high fever and fell asleep in it. We were staying at the Dolphin, and this happened at MGM (now DHS). I let her rest, and we took the boat back to the resort. If I hadn't done that, there was no way she could have walked, and I couldn't have carried her! Turned out she had strep throat (we had the clinic doc come to the room). I was so happy I had brought our stroller, and that was the last trip I did so.

Even though you have to fold it up on a bus, I really liked having our own stroller. We used the little basket underneath to store stuff, and it was just a great thing to have.

The rentals are outrageous! For the price to rent one at Disney, I agree that you could buy one then sell it or something later. We just brought one from home, that we hadn't used at home for years. I even rented one a couple of days when my DD was 7, and she fell asleep in it. (she needs her rest).

 

[katyjeka]

We are renting one from outside WDW. Although I love everything Disney I will not pay disney prices for a stroller. Have a great trip.

 

[TikiGoddess07]

I can't justify renting a stroller at ANY price. We just returned from a trip to WDW. Our kids are 4 and 6. We knew they would both do so much better on the trip in the heat of August if they didn't have to walk everywhere. So, we took our old Mac Triumph with us for the 6 yr old and bought a gently used Mac Volo for the 4 yr old on ebay. It was $60 total with shipping! And now I can resell it on ebay for about the same price. Even if I resell it for $40 I'll only have paid $20 for the use of the stroller.

We liked having two single strollers as it gave us the choice of taking one or two, depending on where we were going. Plus having storage was nice -- didn't have to carry much.

Kathy